Cardio Power and Resistance Is For The Birds (Insanity)

{Originally Posted 5-21-2013}

Alright, so last night we did Week 2, Day 1 of Insanity. Cardio Power and Resistance. I'm starting to notice a pattern here, anything with "Cardio" or "Power" in it is going to be so much fun it'll actually negate itself and suck big time.

My two biggest hang ups last night were foolishness on my part, and I'm kicking myself big time for it. First, that third piece of pizza was a horrible idea. Seriously. What made me think it was a good idea is beyond me. I've never truly felt like throwing up until last night, and it started about two minutes into the warm up. That made for a long work out.

Second, my lukewarm slightly cherry-flavored water was not thirst-quenching. At all. The flavor ruined it. So I kept drinking water trying to quench my parched throat, which just added more water to my already stuffed stomach. No bueno. No bueno, indeed.

That being said, I still pushed as hard as I could without making myself puke. Truthfully, I wish I had just thrown up so I would've felt better and been able to push harder. Lesson learned.

The warm up was slightly different this time. The Warm Up cycles through the classic Jog, Power Jacks, and added Log Jumps (where you leap from side to side as if over an invisible log) then back to 123 Heismans (stutter step side, and then bring your knee up), Butt Kicks (try to touch your heels to your glutes), High Knees, and added Vertical Jumps. Key things to remember is to keep your core engaged, which means leaning forward slightly and tightening your abs.

Stretch and then into Set 1.

Set 1:

30 seconds per move for a total of two minutes. Repeat three times.

Power Jumps: From a squat, leap up and bring your knees high, where you slap them and fall back into a squat. You don’t go all out, but rather follow Shaun T’s cues. Or briefly consider murdering him by the end of the third circuit.

Belt Kicks: Another move that incorporates a squat. Hands on your hips, go down into a squat, moving to one side, and when you come up do a front kick. Back down, to the other side, up, kick. Core engaged, lean forward and keep all murderous thoughts to yourself.

Hit the Floor: Another move that alternates from side to side, you leap up, grab sky, and then fall into a side squat of sorts and reach down to touch the floor with one hand. Back up, grab sky, drop into an opposite side squat, and touch the floor with the other hand. Or do what I did and stand there trying not to vomit pizza everywhere. Real talk, though, I watched Shaun T do the first two or three to study his form and make sure I understood how to do it. Correct form is killer with these workouts, but slipping and having incorrect form can lead to injuries and disappointing physical results.

V Push Ups: Get into push position, and walk your feet forward as close as you can, so that your butt is pointing right up into the air, fingers pointing at each other. Do push ups, lowering your head to the ground, using your shoulders, keeping your back and legs straight. My triceps loathed this one. I told them to shut up and keep pushing.

Each set takes two minutes, with a thirty second water break between. At the end of the third set, you don’t get to take a break.  Shaun T throws you right into one final exercise: 

Tricep Dips. This one lasts for a whole minute. Get onto all fours, stomach to the sky, and make sure your finger tips are facing your heels, elbows are back, and lower your butt to the ground and back up, using your triceps to control your movement. Then, with twenty seconds to go, lift one of your legs right into the sky. I sat the majority of these out. My triceps were having none of this fancy leg in the air crap.

 Thirty second break, and then right into Ball Tricep Workout. Get on all fours, the same as the V Push Up, but lower your butt into a crouch. Then, on your tip toes, lower your knees toward the ground, and then push back up. These weren't horrible, so I tried to do as many as I could. I still ended up curled up on the floor for awhile, though.

Set 2:

Twelve minutes left in the main workout. As soon as the water break is over, you get thrown right into the next set. Each set is two minutes, with a 30 second water break between. 

Hurdle Jumps: Sprint in place, arms pumping, and every time Shaun T calls out, you leap high as if over an invisible lateral hurdle. Sprint, jump! Sprint, jump, sprint, jump! Die.

Globe Jumps: My arch nemesis. I hate these with every fiber of my being. By this point, I was exhausted and got all of five jumps in the first time around. Meaning one full set plus one jump. My memory is foggy, but I recall standing there looking at Shaun T like he had four heads for the other two sets of these.

Moving Push-Ups: Classic push-ups, but every time you go down, your foot travels to the left, and then your other foot joins it, then they travel to the right, and back and forth for 30 seconds. I did none of these. I tried to travel and it didn't work, so I modified and just did regular push ups.

Floor Sprints: Stay in push-up position, but now sprint in place, hands locked, knees jacking up to your chests, sprinting and running in place.

Make the most of those water breaks, take down a mouthful, don’t drink too much, and get right back at it. Enjoy Shaun T’s roar when he gets you going for that second set. If you don’t get a rush when he does that, I don’t know what’s wrong with you! Keep form, keep tight, and take a break if you need it!

Once you think you’re going to have a heart attack from that last set, you get a 15 second water break. Just enough time to go back into it feeling refresh and relaxed, right? *eye roll*. Always a gentleman, Shaun T throws you into a brutal final minute. You get into the squat position, and do eight hop squats and then drop and do eight push-ups for the full minute. I didn't do many of these either. I would get into the push up position and get one or two push ups in before my shoulders gave up. Going from the push up position to stand then squat was a joke. But when Shaun T said it was the last set of push ups, I made myself do all 8. It literally took everything I had to do that last one. Today, my pecs are killing me but I like it. Now I just need to find a way to channel that intensity into the rest of the workouts.

After that, stretch and cool down, then you're done.

Progress:

-I did those final 8 push ups after doing all those other shoulder and tri workouts. I. Did. Them. Last week, I could do 2 push ups, and not well. This week. I did 8 after shredding my shoulders and triceps in earlier workouts. It hurt, I won't lie and say it didn't, but I pushed through it and did them. I can't describe how awesome that feels.
-Triceps are getting more defined. Really, my upper arms in general, though my biceps were decent to begin with. I'm assuming that's why push-ups are getting easier.
-Rings are very loose. Like, scary loose. They've always been slightly loose because they were about half a size too big when Doug bought them. Now I'd say they're probably a full size too big. They'll slide right off when I wiggle my hand around enough.
- A full inch and a half lost around my stomach! This is exciting for me because I can finally wear my Seven jeans without the ugly muffin top. It wasn't bad before, but it was enough that I noticed and it bothered me. Not a problem now!

Tonight is Pure Cardio again. My stomach just dropped just thinking about it, but at the same time I'm pretty pumped. Pumped to have my ass handed to me? Sure, why not. I'm determined to do better tonight than I did on my first go-'round with Pure Cardio. I'm not sore today (disappointing. I like being sore) so I should have more to put into it tonight. There's only one way to find out!